Gearing Up for Gardening

We have been busily welcoming in a sleepy Spring here in the Lowcountry.  I cannot believe that those to the north are STILL getting snow storms even today.  I truly feel sorry for them because I know that everyone is ready to move on.  I love, love, love the beginning of Spring because of all the new life, warmer temperatures and the return of color!  Gray -day in and day out- is simply a tough thing.

One of my favorite parts of this time of year is planning and putting in our garden. Mark and I both grew up with gigantic gardens in our respective backyards so it’s not a foreign concept to us at all, BUT, having a small yard, in a rental home, in a subdivision with a tight homeowners association, had us a wee bit intimidated about plunging our country tiller deep into their pretty sod.  😉  We have always had a relatively big yard with an entire area dedicated to our garden, so at first, we thought, “oh well, there’s the farmer’s market”, but I just can’t give up growing my own stuff.  SO.  It was time to get creative. After following many, many links on Pinterest about container, vertical, and raised bed gardening, I finally bought this little gem:

It really seems to be the authority on those subjects, and coming from someone who has gardened for years, I’ve learned a LOT.  I’m even having my kids read through it so that they will understand and store up some of these concepts into their heads for when they have their own homes.

We’ve also tried our hands at starting our seeds indoors this year rather than purchasing plants.  Some seeds will be sown directly into the ground, because that’s just the best way, but so far we’ve got our peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, cantaloupe, squash, zucchini, and some flowers and herbs just waiting to wake up in their little dirt beds.  I plan to document everything as we go, so keep your eyes open for updates as we embark on our little experiment.